which, according to the same writer, only shows his prudence. The critical words, "Wherefore we confess one will in our Lord Jesus Christ," are, as his explanation shows, a reference exclusively to Christ's human nature. What he meant was that in Christ as man there were not two conflicting wills of the flesh and the spirit.
Bossuet replied that probably Honorius was not heretical in his private convictions. But he very badly instructed the Patriarchs who consulted him; and he secured peace at the price of silence as to the Orthodox Faith. He spoke disparagingly of the teaching of Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, who maintained the Catholic Truth upon the subject, and favourably of Cyrus of Alexandria, who propagated the false doctrine. His language suggests heretical explanation. It was most unsuited to the special occasion and the requirements of the Church. It failed to give any definite guidance on the doctrine in question; and, by its vague and general terms, promoted the very error which ought to have been suppressed.
Perhaps the ablest Roman criticism on the contents of Honorius's letter is that of the historian Hefele. It should be read in the form in which he published it prior to the alterations which the Vatican Council forced upon his historical expositions. "Honorius," says Hefele,[1] "did not grasp the matter aright at the very beginning." He argued briefly but inappropriately that where there is one Person there is only one Worker and therefore only one Will. He said that in our ordinary corrupted nature there are certainly two wills, that of the flesh and that of the spirit, but that the former is only a consequence of the Fall, and therefore could not exist in Christ. "So far Honorius
- ↑ History of the Councils, p. 32.
